NORTH EAST - Eisenhower's wrestlers grabbed a third-, a fourth-, and a fifth-place finish on Saturday at the 32nd Annual North East Tournament at North East High School.
Jake Johnson didn't lose until the semifinals on Saturday, an 11-6 decision by District 10's and Northwest Region's top Class AA 195-pounder, North East senior Alex Svetz. Johnson then defeated Harbor Creek's Preston Meade, 6-2, and pinned Seneca's Brad Beiter in the second period in the third-place match.
Johnson (4-1) was the only Knight to advance to the championship round semifinals, but wasn't the only one to make the third-place matches.
Dylan Baker (4-2) bounced back in the consolation round, earning an 8-5 decision at 126 pounds over Seneca's Kevin Pier. In the consolation quarterfinals, Baker earned an 8-0 major decision over Fairview's Sam Lehman. His tourney continued with an 8-1 decision over Kane's Jon Gelsick. Baker was pinned by Saegertown's Justin Mitchell to finish fourth.
Finishing fifth, heavyweight Kenny Peters (4-2) pinned Sharon's Shawn Culp with one second left in the second period, and earned a 6-3 decision over Mercer's Shawn Hennigan.
Peters ultimately lost in the consolation semifinals before earning a 7-2 decision over Redbank Valley's Ben Carrillo to finish fifth.
Steve Haner (106), Trevor Spicer (182) and Jordan Hefferman (220) also won matches in Saturday's consolation round for Eisenhower, each finishing 2-2 on the weekend.
The Knights finished 12th as a team out of 21 teams scoring.
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Youngsville wrestling
BURGETTSTOWN - An undersized Youngsville wrestling team had eight of ten wrestlers finish in the top six at their respective weight classes at Saturday's 20-team Burgettstown Tournament, near Pittsburgh.
While the Eagles had no champions, Youngsville finished fifth as a team on the strength of two second-place finishes and eight placewinners overall.
Josh Lewis was 3-1 at 160 pounds and Chester Ciukaj 2-1 at 120, and each took second place.
Lewis and Ciukaj, as well as Jaykup Durlin and Stephen Beattie, had each advanced to the semifinals on Friday.
Durlin finished 2-2 and in fourth at 220 pounds and Beattie in fourth at 285.
Sage Sivak wrestled back through the consolation round at 182 and also finished fourth.
Hunter Proctor was fifth at 132 pounds, and Stone Sivak (170) and Aaron Hoover (113) each finished sixth.
"It was a pretty big tournament," said Youngsville coach Scott Ishman. "There were big schools down there, last year only Nick Lucas placed. All in all, we wrestled well."
The top six wrestlers in each weight class placed, and the top three teams.
"We really weren't that far out of (third) even," said Ishman, whose Eagles next visit Fort LeBoeuf on Wednesday.